Boys track: Warren holds off Grayslake Central for sectional crown

The road to the this year's IHSA boys state track meet began Wednesday night at the Grayslake North Class 3A sectional. Sixteen teams battled it out to get as many individuals downstate as possible.

After winning a sectional championship and tying for second place in the state last year, North Suburban Conference champion Warren was the team to beat as the Blue Devils geared up for the long trip to Charleston for the state meet next weekend.

Warren did not let its fans down as the Blue Devils held off runner-up Grayslake Central 85-78 for the sectional crown. Host Grayslake North (54 points) nipped Stevenson (51 points) for fourth place.

The top two finishers in every event along with any athletes who beat the predetermined state qualifying marks earned berths to the state meet.

Warren's 4x100 relay team of Nate Foster, Jailen Duffie, Cassius Callahan, and Jaden Turner got the momentum going early on by posting a winning time of 42.50. Turner also won the long jump with a distance of 22-feet, 3 inches with only one jump attempted while Duffie won the 200-meter dash in 22.37 seconds.

Warren's Caleb Levy (1:53.80) was also a winner in the 800-meter run (1:53.80) while teammate Aidan Porreca (49.27 meters) won the discus throw.

The Blue Devils' 4x200 team of Alex Asare, Duffie, Callahan, and Turner won in 1:28.92.

"The 4x100 looked strong, it's been a tough year with injuries, and they were five-tenths of a second off the school record," said Warren coach Josh Williams, whose team overcame chilly running conditions for mid-May.

"Turner has been battling injuries, he's a special kid, and he is the school record-holder in the long jump."

Stevenson's Marcus Caselberry was the 110 and 300-meter hurdles champion. Grayslake Central's Christian Jaimes (1.95 meters) and Stevenson's Randy Clay (1.90 meters) also reached state in the high jump as did Stevenson's Ethan Aghakhan (48.22 meters) in the discus. Aghakhan (16.31 meters) also won the shot put while Mundelein's Brandon Hansen placed second in that event.

"Marcus (Caselberry) ran really well, he ran 'PRs' in both hurdle races, and he's running faster at the right time of the year," said Stevenson coach Andy Farrissey.

"Ethan (Aghakhan) has been really consistent all year, and it is only Randy (Clay's) fourth or fifth meet ever, so he's done great."

Lake Zurich got on the scoreboard early when Dylan Myers (9:16.65) held off Buffalo Grove's Mario Torres by almost three seconds to win the 3,200-meter run. Palatine's Mason Krieg (third), and Lake Zurich's Braden Eckman (fourth) also beat the cutoff time to advance to state in the 3,200.

"They (Myers and Eckman) worked their tails off this year, and I'm super-excited to see how they do downstate," said Lake Zurich coach Todd Anderson. "They're both seniors, so getting one last chance to run downstate as a team will be exciting for them."

Wauconda junior Kosta Zografos continued to shine by winning the high jump with a leap of 1.95 meters while the Bulldogs also got a first-place from Jacob Wurster (11.13) in the 100-meter dash.

The host Knights got a first-place finish from Zach Weitgenant (51.17) in the 400-meter run as he barely edged Lake Zurich's Tres Drawhorn by .01 seconds.

Grayslake Central's 4x800 squad of John Vagnoni, Camden Heavelyn, Duncan Jones, and Trey Sato took first place in 7:58.47.

"Warren is a tough team as well as Stevenson and all we can do is set our lineup to qualify as many kids as we can," said Grayslake Central coach Brent Pitt, whose team also won the 4x400 relay. "Our 4x800 team was pretty tough,- hard work prevails, and they looked really good."

Grayslake Central's Brannon Duffin won the 100-meter wheelchair race in 18.53, the 200-meter race in 35.47, and the 400-meter race in 1:10.97. Sato won the 1,600-meter run in 4:21.08 while Palatine teammates Carter Hayes and Krieg also advanced to state in that event.

Grayslake Central's Sean Mullen (4.31 meters) was the pole vault champ while Grayslake North's DeAndre Neely (13.83 meters) won the triple jump.

Other second-place finishers were Mullen in the 110 hurdles, Vernon Hills' Jake Slavish in the 300 hurdles, Grayslake North in the 4x100, Antioch in the 4x200, Grayslake North in the 4x400, Vernon Hills in the 4x800, Vernon Hills' Jaden Buford in the pole vault, and Neely in the long jump,